MaKaM

Yeah, and I get that entertainment/money/ad space is key, but the constant drama is what made the show unwatchable eventually. The constant need to 1 up the craziness. The "what is Hildi going to stick to the walls next...feathers. Super." got boring after a while. A constant diet of drama is just as tedious as constant gray-and-white neutral schemes. House Hunters Renovation does a pretty good job of balancing current trendiness with some interesting personal/designer touches (though regular House Hunters is falling into boring with the constant "wife requires a victorian but husband wants a mid-century modern!" "she wants a pool, but he hates them!" and "it is our first house and we want to be in the city, close to the action but we don't want close neighbors and our budget is tiny" junk). It would be nice if Trading Spaces could find this balance. For instance, I'd love for them to come do my mom's bathroom and work the harvest gold tub and toilet into an interesting and more updated design. Or show me how to work with natural wood trim without painting it all white and having a $50,000 renovation budget.

Well, yeah, clearly they are given some initial information to do some pre-sourcing of materials but the consistency of choosing something that was the EXACT OPPOSITE of what the homeowners wanted was too frequent to be coincidental that they almost have to be given at least something of a hint of what the people hate--and then be determined to "make them love it anyway". Otherwise, they were seriously unlucky in picking foot artwork and clipping your toenails in the living room of the one family on the show who ever said they hated feet (I'm remembering that one correctly, right? It feels burned in my brain 15 years later). And, when you decide to put furniture on the ceiling, the wants and needs of the "client" are nowhere in your thought process.

I saw the episode with the sarape pattern on the ceiling of the kitchen and was like "oh my god, hideous!" but the homewoners loved it. And when it was done, I didn't 100% hate it but I definitely wouldn't have wanted it in my kitchen. Well, not that exact pattern. If I had the cove ceiling, I could see doing something fun up there. So I think Frank is good at reading people and trends and finding something a bit quirky that is still somehow appealing to the people who will have to live there. Better than Doug's Prison of Love and Hildi's everything where is was clearly all about them and whatever stupid thing they wanted to do, damn the homeowners.

People who show up for renovation and construction in strappy heels are people so concerned by their image that I disregard basically everything they have to say as most-likely self-serving. See also: Christina and Aubrey on Flip or Flop who tour flea-ridden hellholes in sandals. ETA: There is some value in saying "trust me" when a designer has an outside-the-box idea because it might actually turn out okay. The problem is that we all know that Doug and Hildi's work doesn't usually end that way. And the designers that say "trust me" also usually have a larger budget for better quality materials. Burlap on the walls is interesting--kinda like a textured wallpaper but it is only fastened at the edges. How much can you brush up against it before it starts to pill, pull, or separate? Just use wallpaper next time. And Doug's "trust me" wasn't too misplaced in this episode but really, I think it was the artwork that looked best in the room. And that dresser.

Yeah, I'm not running out to recreate any of those ideas. EVERYONE had a red dining room for a while there and I blame Vern. And using painters tape for stripes was definitely something that they pioneered hard. These ideas were...kinda boring and also too weird. I guess I'll still tune in and see what Carter and Ty do next week. Their stuff was by far the best parts of either room.

The wavy lines on Hildi's would drive me CRAZY. Doug's did look better than expected (especially up near the top since they didn't take the crown off and when they were first putting the burlap up, you could see the fraying, raw edge) but that avocado green did look very 1970s romper room when it was done. Tropical-ish but old tropical bungalow which, is a style, but maybe not a great style that needed to come back. Hildi's wall of mirrors was a head-scratcher. People rip those out, not put them up. But, it was more interesting than another Drew and Jonathan gray-and-white-extravaganza.

The thing that struck me was when Doug (? was it doug who said it?) that they wanted to make a great space for the homeowners but really, especially with Hildi, it seemed like they wanted to wank to their own creativity and designs. Sorry for that image. But no one puts straw, feathers, or flowers on a wall like that expecting a homeowner to actually love it. Or putting the furniture on the farking ceiling because "the room was so small". The ceiling is EXACTLY the same size as the room, dumbarse. And I remember one where the homeowner had a foot phobia and Doug put a triptych of a foot on the wall. It was one giant "what is the most crazy thing I can do to this room" that is the exact opposite of what the homeowner would want. Carter still looks GOOOOOD. Rowr!

Are the endorsements that good anymore though? I mean, what is Evan Lysacek doing/getting these days? Johnny and Tara managed to get the commentating gig and unless they finally can Andrea, that team is pretty well filled out. Nathan seems like a nice kid and presents well generally but figure skating isn't the draw it used to be and a lot of the US is wallowing in disgusting, overt racism these days and Nathan is not white. Hell, remember when an "American beats out Kwan"? Shit hasn't changed much. Frankly, college is a better bet, especially for a kid smart enough to get into Yale. He could train for three more years and then have a freak injury take him out before the payoff of the next Olympics and then he is out even more money for years of training and behind in his college plans. And you never know when the next big thing will turn up and make you old news. (sorry if this posts multiple times. I am having...issues)

And the lifts were just lift, establish a position, down. None of this contort into this position, now this one, guy drops a hand and goes to one skate and an hour later, puts her down as they have slowed to a crawl across the ice. Just to repeat 2 more times in the program. Frankly, across all disciplines, I want them to cut the number of major counting elements down to like 5 with a bonus for being a "balanced" program (at least one jump, spin, footwork, sequence, etc.) and then the rest of the time, they can skate around doing whatever it is they do best interpreting the music and just get minor points for completed extra things--single jumps get 1 point, doubles 2, and triples 3 with no Zayak rule. And significantly reduce the impact of the cheating categories, oh, I mean PCS. I know there are a lot of things wrong with this very basic proposal but it turns out I'd rather watch someone doing 10 double salchows with joy and energy than watching one labor around the rink to get up speed to fall on a quad lutz and then falling again on another one after doing a slow-as-molassas spin that has all the required position contortions but nothing else to recommend it.

Well, that should at least eliminate some of the angsty-sex-on-ice that has been the forte of some of the top teams the last few years. Unless they go for acting out the orgasm, that would at least satisfy the enjoyable part and colorful would be the blushes from everyone watching it. And maybe it will push some of those who have been resting on lyrical/dreamy laurels out of their comfort zones. But, maybe they just want the Russian ice dancers to take on the Candyman program from the pairs skaters.

So, is there some sort of competition on in Russia to have the longest hair? Trusova collected her medal with her hair down and it goes past her bum. Both Med and Zag also have surprisingly long hair as well.

Yeah, next in the assembly line. Talk to us after the puberty fairy has hit. Hope she isn't ruining her hips and other body parts doing these jumps on undeveloped bones and ligaments.

Yeah, speedskating. Such a shocker that the results fall off when athletes have to struggle to fund themselves. so weird how that doesn't attract the top talent, USOC. So weird. Can you imagine what some of the talent that goes into track and field could do on the speedskating rink? Until the US decides it cares about winter sports, we are going to continue to lose ground. Skiing is another one that anyone who has watched the World Cup saw coming. The US men's team is a void except for Ligety every once in a while. Maybe a top 10 here and there from the other guys. Lindsey and Mikaela have been holding down the fort on the women's side, but with Lindsey about done, Mikaela can't win all the medals by herself. And the drop off in that one is odd because there is money in skiing. At least in World Cup skiing thanks to luxury European brands. It isn't like bobsled or speedskating where you have to wonder if you are going to hitchhike to the World Championships each year.

The problem was that when they required spiral sequences, it got to the point where you were like, oh, great, another spiral. And they would all do the same three moves (two of them ugly) to try to get max levels. The one where the skater looked like a dog peeing on the audience was always a favorite.

I think all closing ceremonies should end with a concert with the best music of the country. Give the paying ticket holders something for their money even if it isn'. televised worldwide. And fireworks. Because fireworks. And drones, but not in the fireworks.

At least Terry seemed to learn the correct pronunciation of Beijing by the end of the 2022 presentation. Johnny had it from the the start. Tara, no. But she has 4 years to try again.

The future of figure skating: one of those projection scores embedded into the ice! So all the Carmens can have roses at their feet. And all the moulin rogues can have diamonds.

They need to not hire Jim next time. Belinda can be on all streams forever. If a person is looking for quiet competence, she delivered.

She is one of two total OAR gold medals (and really, the hockey team should be stripped of their for violating the agreement to not mention Russia since they sang the Russian anthem on the medal stand) which should count for something. Or she can hang up her skates, just do skating shows, or find a new supportive federation (though she'd have to sit out for 2 years even if Russia let her go). So young to have achieved all the major dreams (aside from a senior World Championship gold).

Yeah, but hides the empty seats!

Oh, my mom would NOT have let me out in public in that at 15. Or 18. or 21 but she really wouldn't have had a say at that point. But she would have looks.

Yeah. It would be nice if they allowed a "personality" element that just had some standard base value not predicated on its difficulty. Something to let the skaters do something that works for their choreography or to show who they are without it negatively impacting their score (like, I don't care if a spread eagle is easier than an ina bauer, or a delayed axel, just give me some variety!). I know someone said they were talking about shortening the LP (though I think that is a bad idea because the length and strength necessary really is what separates the best from the rest) but they could limit jumps to 6 total, give footwork sequences a time limit, and then allow for some personality moments.

Plus maybe a language barrier. Med seems to have at least rudimentary English but I don't think I've seen anything with Zag that wasn't 100% translated.

"Wait, wait!" Andrea cries. "I haven't gotten you to cry in front of the camera, yet! America NEEDS to know why you are such a fuckup and let down an entire nation (that never once cared about you before today)"

If they were going in order, nope. Hanyu was the last guy on the docket.